Granite bases for speakers or equipment

[gary]

Hi guys I know I've not been around for a while been busy working and hence the post I now work for a granite company doing worktops but i figured that there may be some call for speaker or equipment bases and am trying to do a little research to see if it would be worthwhile offering these for sale, so feedback from the forum would be appreciated, a lot of the offcut stone from the worktops gets binned but for a small charge the smaller sizes required could be cut and polished and make great isolation bases. Please let me know your thoughts.

[Andrei]

Surely a good idea. Many people plant their turntables on a slab of granite. They add mass and provide a flat surface. I got mine by getting an offcut from a company that makes granite kitchen benches.

[Floyddroid]

It's a great idea. i bought some a few years back from a company on Teesside but the guys there didn't cash in on doing such a thing with the off cuts and merely put them in a skip. There is definately a market.

[jollyfix]

Depends on price, i get my bits from the off cut skip for free, i can cut and polish myself, but know there are many who can't. There are places that charge an earth to polish the sides, or cut down and router the edge etc, but there are ones who only charge a few £££ as its a quick job with some diamond pads. So again down to cost. What sort of prices had you in mind, say for a turntable size? What postage costs be?
My mate in Wales paid £5.00 to have a skip bit cut down to turntable size, then £10.00 to polish and router edges and drill 4 m8 bolt size holes into the bottom of slab.

[Desmo]

Yes I'm interested too. I've been considering exactly this requirement to get 2 slabs for the bases of my speakers. I'd be happy to pay a fair rate for the service.

[awkwardbydesign]

I use granite for some of my equipment shelves, but bear in mind that it DOES ring. Not as badly as glass, but worse that slate. Just something to consider when choosing materials.

[twotone]

I've two granite plinths for the bottom my speakers, they're beautiful looking and cost about £110 delivered from a mob on ebay, I bought them with the speaker stands from Jason.

They're 'AS' branded.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-Granite-Audio-Isolation-Platforms-Plinth-Speaker-Sub-/180410463918?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2a014d36ae

[The Barbarian]

Gary:
What do you use to profile & polish the edges?

[jollyfix]

I used Rapier electroface pads for wet polishing, Samurai disks for dry 50 (green)- 3000 (lilac), then black and white buffing grade. used some poteen powder now and again also.Flex grinder. All got nicked from a job i was on a while back, so i borrow my mates these days if i need to polish, i use wet and dry paper for small trav type jobs. I still use loads of Jollyfix, or similar polyester 2 part resin, great for fixing/gluing stone together.

[The Black Adder]

Isn't it better to keep the bases open on speakers and add mass to the top?

[Desmo]

Isn't it better to keep the bases open on speakers and add mass to the top?

Nah - that would squash the sound!:scratch:

[The Black Adder]

haha... yes, I suppose it would. It would compress it too :lol: and add too much weight.

A nice flat response.

[gary]

I'll need to do a little research on postage costs as stuff is heavy but from a manufacturing point of view they are fairly fast to make so should certainly be able to get them done at reasonable cost, at this stage I am simply trying to find out if there is enough interest in it to justify going and contacting parcel company's for prices, Company is based in Glasgow so finding a reasonable priced parcel delivery company may take a little work.

[orbscure]

Heads up for this offer at Argos... buy one and get the second for half price - so £11.98 the pair. I have my speakers on two and plan to use the second pair for my mono power amps...

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2789082.htm

[Firebottle]

Just bought a couple of these from Argos today.

I wanted to raise the speakers a little but didn't want to fit the spikes onto the laminate flooring. Now fitted the spikes resting on the granite worktop savers:

http://i601.photobucket.com/albums/tt97/Paramotorpilot/P1040818.jpg?1431203756879&1431203759858

I realised how uneven the floor is in places but with the adjustable spikes I have now adjusted them so that the speakers are level.
I wasn't expecting any difference or improvement but I can say that it now sounds 'better'.

Even the TV through the stereo sounds better, also played a little vinyl, it seems more finely tuned, a bit more focussed, even a bit more dynamic.

Excellent result for £12 :thumbsup:

:) Alan

[Simon_LDT]

Be mindful that some of those really cheap granite from supermarkets and places like Argos are not always real 'solid' granite. Plus they're really thin, usually only 1cm thick.

I got mine from this guy on ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/granite8014?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

He'll do custom sizes and finishes for a reasonable cost. I got a pair for £50 delivered and they're really chunky at 30mm thick so they have some real solid weight to them (which is important).

[The Barbarian]

Depends on price, i get my bits from the off cut skip for free, i can cut and polish myself, but know there are many who can't. There are places that charge an earth to polish the sides, or cut down and router the edge etc, but there are ones who only charge a few £££ as its a quick job with some diamond pads. So again down to cost. What sort of prices had you in mind, say for a turntable size? What postage costs be?
My mate in Wales paid £5.00 to have a skip bit cut down to turntable size, then £10.00 to polish and router edges and drill 4 m8 bolt size holes into the bottom of slab.

Hand jobs are a no no :D Granite/Marble/Slate must be machine profiled & polished for precision....

[jollyfix]

I was talking about using a machine, 4" grinder etc, but i can get the same finish by hand! Just takes longer.

[Solrighal]

I just got a quote from a local stonemason who's going to make me a wee isolation base for my Project Ember. It's only around 6" x 5" and he's quoting me a tenner. Seems not too bad really. If you were closer I'd have asked you but postage would probably be not far off a tenner anyway.

This is maybe a daft question but is all granite the same? I know you get different colours & all that but the stone's basically the same isn't it?

Gordon.

[zanash]

the best way to use granite or other stone, is to bolt it to the stand or speaker ....the mass of the slab then forms part of the mass of the speaker system rather than just a weight on the floor.

[orbscure]

I got mine from this guy on ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/granite8014?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

He'll do custom sizes and finishes for a reasonable cost. I got a pair for £50 delivered and they're really chunky at 30mm thick so they have some real solid weight to them (which is important).

Now that I have speakers with an unusual footprint and the eBay seller linked is no longer "taking on any more work" does anybody have any suggestions for a source who is able to supply 300mm x 600mm blocks of granite which are 30 to 40mm thick?

Cheers
Pete

[struth]

This is stone.com maybe?

[Arcamnut]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262118050110?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2648&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Try these